Blame
by Katzedecimal
Summary: Bob and Hexadecimal have a score to settle with each other. Written long before Season 4 was ever on the horizon.


"Blame"  
a ReBoot fanfic by Katzedecimal characters copyright 1994 - Mainframe Entertainment, Inc.

Bob tapped on the door of his apartment before letting himself in. He was still unused to having a roommate, and was sensitive to privacy issues. He closed the door and stretched, then looked around. Most of the apartment was dark, but the kitchen light was on, beckoning him to investigate the source of the rich, appetizing smells. A tray of cookies sat cooling on the counter, along with a loaf of fresh bread. Beside them sat a note with "Welcome home" scrawled on it, an arrow pointing his attention to the oven, where a plateful of supper awaited him. Bob smiled. "Hex? You home?" The light was on in her room. Presently the door cracked open.

"Oh hello, Bob. I didn't hear you come in." She held up her stereo headphones. "Have you eaten?"

"I did earlier but I'm starved again. This won't go wasted," he waved the plate he was holding. He speared a forkful and shoveled it down. "You have no idea how grateful I am for this," he grinned.

Hex smiled impishly. "How did it go? System all settled down again?"

"Not hardly," Bob replied, still eating, "We're still identifying people. Turns out there were some unregistered backups of people who'd been nullified, while others have vanished without a trace. Its pretty topsy-turvy at the Principle Office." He cleaned his plate, then took it into the kitchen, "Thanks, Hex, that was great. I had no idea you were such a good cook."

She smiled again, "I've been cooking for a long time, but I've never been able to try what I make."

Bob nodded. No, with her shifting, fixed-expression masks, she could not have eaten food, had had to subsist on pure energy, like the nulls. "I'm glad life is more enjoyable for you." She nodded. "Hey, listen, I'm going to run a bath and relax."

"Okay." She giggled, "Want your back scrubbed?"

"Possibly," he grinned, and vanished into the bathroom. He washed his hair in the sink while waiting for the tub to fill. After lighting some candles and turning out the overhead light, he appraised the mountain of bubbles rising over the rim of the tub and stepped in. He sighed, sinking into the warm tub, leaned back his head and closed his eyes.

No, things had not gone smoothly after the system reboot. The system had been restored using an older backup, resulting not only in another Enzo Matrix (this one 01, not even the 10 version Bob had left behind), but in a multitude of people who had been lost, nullified or deleted. Former virals, now cured, had to be restored to their families.. and make their peace with neighbors they had attacked, while under Megabyte's control. Not to mention the criticism Bob was taking over Hexadecimal's continued existance.  
He shook his head. Well, they'd have to be Guardians themselves to understand. Even Phong was still questioning the wisdom of Bob's judgement; he'd overheard him wondering aloud whether the Web had damaged more than just Bob's skin. Strangely enough, the only person who wasn't questioning him was Matrix. Yet.

He sat up straighter, then slumped down against the tub. Nope, still there. Grabbing a scrubbie, he reached back, trying to get at the itchy spot between his shoulder blades. Giving up, he regarded his mountain of bubbles once more, judged them to be adequate, and hoped Hexadecimal didn't have X-ray vision. "Hey, Hex?"

Her spurs jingled as she approached, scratching at the door with her claws. "You rang?" she intoned, in a passable imitation of Lurch.

Bob laughed. "Yeah. Is that offer still open? There's an itch between my shoulders that I can't reach."

The door opened and Hex winked at him, "I can scratch all your itches, Bob."

Hoo-boy... Bob slipped down further into the tub, checking the density of his bubbles again. They seemed to be holding up alright... "Well now how can I scrub your back if you're all hunched down like that? Up, up!" Hex settled down on the edge of the tub, her firm thigh close to Bob's cheek. He checked his foam once more, then pushed himself up to reveal his back. "Muuuuuuuuch better," Hex purred. She grabbed the scrubbie and soaped it up. "I can see alllllllllll the way down." Bob blinked in panic and she giggled. "To the water," she added. To Bob's mild glare, she winked, "Can't blame a girl for hoping."

Bob rolled his eyes and shook his head. Now was as good a time as any... "Hex, we need to talk..."

She didn't pause in her gentle scrubbing. "About what?"

"About... you .. and me.. "

She stopped, tilting her chin up in an overly-thoughtful expression, "Let's see, you and me... you and me... did something happen during the restore?... I must have been drunk... you and me... Nope!" she finished brightly, "No 'you and me'. But I am open to suggestions." She resumed scrubbing.

Bob shook his head again -- why did she have to make this so difficult? "Ah.. no, Hex.. I mean.."

"You're going to give me The Speech, aren't you?"

"..hah?"

She smiled at him, her voice still perky as she rung out the scrubbie. "The Speech. The 'I like you but not that way' speech." Bob felt the blush crawling up his face. "Here, I'll save you the trouble." Crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knee, Hexadecimal recited, "Hex, you're a good person and I like you a lot, but you're just not the right sprite for me. You wouldn't be happy with me, and I wouldn't be happy with you. You need someone more fill-in-the-blank than me; I just can't give you what you need to be happy." She smiled at him, "Right?"

Bob had put his now-indigo face in his hands. "You... get that a lot?"

She raised her eyebrow at him, smirking a familiar expression and shaking her head, "I'm a virus. I don't get out much. Let's just say.. What took you so long?" She grinned.

"Ah. This explains why you're taking this so well. You've been expecting it."

"Of course."

"ah." Bob sank down into his bubbles again, indigo to his ears. Hastily he shifted into a denser mass as Hex got up and sat on the other end of the tub, facing him.

"Bob, really," she said earnestly, "What did you think would happen? This is a dreary little system, boring, never changing, nothing ever happens -- Megabyte takes over a sector, a game cube nullifies another.. Predictable! Then - poof! - a portal opens and in comes Bob! A new sprite! That's never happened before! He's new, he's different, he's a format we've never seen before around here." She dipped her finger into the bubbles and beeped his nose, "Can't blame a girl for being interested."

Bob wondered if he would ever stop blushing, "I guess not."

She smirked again, "You had that effect on over half the system."

"_Over_ half??" She nodded innocently. "...oy."

Hex shrugged, "I'd thought it was worth a try. But... " she shrugged again, "If I was really serious about it, I would have just.. taken you."

Bob winced. "Its not like you lacked for opportunities, either. What did you do, fight your programming?" She nodded and Bob's eyes bugged. "You fought your programming?!" She nodded again. "You can do that?"

"I won't say its easy, because it isn't."

"But you can do it," he pressed.

"Yes."

Bob slumped back into the bubbles, considering this. "I won't say I'm not grateful," he said presently. "It's happened before, back in the Supercomputer. I really appreciate your restraint."

"I liked you. Things weren't so boring. If I'd driven you off, I'd be bored again."

"Of course." Bob rolled his eyes and Hex giggled. "Nice to know I mean so much." This brought outright laughter. He sighed. "But.. what you said.. the Speech.. Its true." He gazed at her over the foam, "I do like you and I'm glad we're friends now. But I'm in love with Dot." There, it was out. He said it.

"I know. I just like flirting with you, that's all. Can't blame a girl for trying," she winked.

"No, can't blame a girl for trying," Bob smiled, then turned serious again. Time to address the other issue. "But there is one thing I can blame a girl for." Hex's face abruptly lost all expression and she looked at her toes. "Why, Hex?"

She was a long time in answering, staring at her toes. "That was the biggest mistake I have ever made."

"Hex... I thought you trusted me. I thought we were getting somewhere."

Her head still down, she twisted it along its vertical axis, tilting it up to look at him with an expression that made him go cold. "Really?" She sat up straight, staring him down, "I fought my programming. How was I to know... if you could fight yours?" She tilted her head.

Bob went pale. "You mean... you thought that... "

"You tried to delete me, then you let Megabyte attack me."

Bob put his face in his hands again. Cursors, she would think that way. It would have to look like that. Worse, when he thought about it, it _did_ look like that -- disguising his attempts to delete her as 'accidents'. "Hex, I'm sorry. It really was an accident, and I never even thought about the Gigabyte thing, how that must have looked to you. Megabyte had you out of my car and merged with you before I even had time to turn around."

"I know. Now."

He slumped back against the tub, gazing at her helplessly. Some Guardian. "I'm sorry, Hex," he said again.

"I know. So am I," she said, and shrugged, "You wanted to know why I didn't fight my programming again. I could have, you're right. And I haven't stopped regretting that I didn't." Distantly she fingered the thick scar at her throat.

"Is that why you kidnapped me?"

She shrugged again, "I don't remember. Most of .. that time... Most of it is a blur to me. I suppose I remembered that you took care of me once, when I needed help."

"Once? I seem to remember twice."

She snarled, showing her seldom-seen teeth, sharp as needles. "The other time you left me with **Michael** - I'm supposed to be _grateful _for that? He's the one who got me into trouble in the first place! ... him and his stupid opera, shattered my looking glass..."

"You're kidding?!"

"I'm not kidding."

_**"Mike?!"**_

"..yes, Mike, stupid TV..."

"Mike sings _opera?!"_

"What? No! Nevermind, nevermind, I'll explain it another time." She stood up, "Your towels should be ready. I popped them into the dryer for you."

Bob blinked, "Oh... That's sweet of you, Hex."

"By the way..."

"Hm?"

She paused by the door and winked, "Your bubbles have dissolved." Bob gaped in shock at his frothless bathwater. Hex giggled, "I know all.. I see all..."

"Do you tell all?" Bob snapped, indigo to the extremities.

She looked at him reproachfully, "Bob...! Tch! That you would even think such a thing of me." She smiled and shut the door behind her. A few nanos later her claws scrabbled at it, then she cracked it open to slide a still-warm bath sheet through, closing it again behind her. Bob felt his ears burn.

By the time he had combed his hair and dressed again, she had returned to her room with her stereo. He tapped on the door, listening to the click of her stiletto heels as she crossed the floor. "I'm glad we talked," Bob said without preamble.

Hex smiled. "So am I."

"Is... everything okay now?"

She touched her face lightly, "Oh yes. I've never been more glad to be proven wrong. Everything's fine."

"Good. Is that... all it was? There was nothing else?"

"No. That's what it was. I'm sorry, Bob."

Bob sighed with relief. "Thanks. It means a lot to me, to know. To have an answer." She nodded and Bob took her hands. "Can't blame a girl for being angry," he said.

She smiled sadly as well, "Can't blame a guy for feeling hurt." They hugged.

After several long nanoseconds, they separated and gazed at each other. "Friends?"

"Yes, please."

Bob smiled, relieved. "Good. I prefer being friends with you. I get more cookies that way." She giggled and released him. "Now.. What's this about Mike singing opera??"

"No, no, he wasn't _singing_ it, he was _playing _it, on one of his stupid shows..."


End file.
